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“Somebody else stabbed a dog and blew up a caravan so you can see why people give us a bad name.”
James O’Connor, 45, originally from Dundee, fatally stabbed 89-year-old Frederick Burge in Glastonbury on February 26, 2023.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility last year because he was hearing voices and is currently indefinitely detained at Broadmoor psychiatric hospital.
Mr Khalin said a lack of mental health support available in the town was worsening issues in his community.
He said: “These people are the bottom of the pile, they have been forgotten and abused. They need help and support but the council doesn’t want to know.
“I have to police it myself because the police don’t often come down here and I don’t want theft or trouble.
“We are left alone down here because we’re out of the way and tourists don’t see us but people who stay in the town centre are told to move within a week.”
Further along the road we met Quentin Grugeon, 50, who has lived in a caravan in Glastonbury with his dog Bobby, three, since 2020.
He says caravan dwellers from all over the country are drawn to Glastonbury because of its tolerant attitude.
He said: “There’s probably more people who work down here than in the town.
“The traveller and festival people are amalgamated into this town but we have a situation where most of the people arguing against us don’t have any connection with the alternative community.
“Glastonbury has always been magical to us, people come here looking for a higher consciousness.
I save £900 a month living in UK’s ‘Caravan City’ but posh locals want us GONE
By Rob Jenkins
A MAN saves £900 a month living in what has been dubbed the UK’s Caravan City – but posh locals want them out.
Callum Barber moved to the popular caravan dwelling by Durdham Downs, common land in Bristol after a hike in bills.
After becoming disillusioned by the constant rat race of life and facing ever mounting pressures from cost-of-living strains, the maths tutor left his traditional lifestyle behind.
When he received an early inheritance from his father to go towards a van, Callum poured about £30,000 into his new home on wheels.
He told The Sun: “I was living in Bristol, paying £900 a month, including bills. It was horrible.
“I was going to be poor in the present, future and in old age.
“This is my whole world. Everything I own. My life’s work.”
The 40-year-old explained how he can still earn cash for a pension by working remotely on his computer.
And, the money saving guru installed solar panels on his roof which generates free electricity in the warmer months.
In the winter, Callum relies on a small generator to see him through, which is still enough to power a tiny oven.
Meanwhile, water comes at no cost, as the van lifer sources a tap outside a garage.
However, locals are determined to boot out Callum, and the 40 or so others to have parked up to stay in Parry’s Lane and Saville Road.
But the maths tutor claimed most vehicle dwellers are responsible, respectful and don’t cause any problems for residents.
He even takes his toilet waste to a nearby farmer who puts it back into the earth.
Callum alleged most of the complaints came from wealthier homeowners – who have not considered their actions may force people into homelessness.
The caravan community have hit back at what they deem snobby locals.
Some have plastered notes on their vehicles which read: “We are simply trying to live our lives in peace and there is no impact whatsoever on anyone else’s life.”
And the 40-year-old added: “In my mind, van dwellers are absolutely not the problem. One per cent, or less, might not be responsible. But that’s because they’re vulnerable.
“If you want to get rid of van dwellers, sort out the cost of living crisis and the housing crisis.”
Callum also claimed he has not received much help from the council, although he admitted officials do conduct welfare checks in the area.
“We’ve become such a large amount of people because of the housing crisis in the rest of the country. The stability of Glastonbury as a place for low-impact living has been recognised.
“There are people in their 20s living here who have no chance of being able to rent a flat without parents who can be guarantors, it’s just impossible.
“We’re making the best of what we’ve got.”
The town’s Zig Zag building has become a Mecca for caravanners.
Although they don’t own it, they have decked out the derelict factory’s three floors with second hand furniture, sofas, clothes rails and even a giant disco ball. Swathes of caravans surround it.
The local council ruled it’s not fit for human habitation and gave the 20 occupants until the end of last month to move out.
But the building’s owner Chris Black said he cannot comply with the ruling because “it is not achievable and is also not reasonable” to make people homeless.
‘I would be homeless if not here’
Meanwhile, carpenter Ash K previously rented a shared house in Oxford but after losing his job during Covid he moved to Glastonbury and has lived in a caravan for the last five years.
He said: “People have a problem with us because we’re not sticking to what everybody else is doing and we’re saving a lot of money because of that.
“I work as a carpenter but it’s incredibly hard for me to save up for a house so I’d have to pay somebody else to live in their house.
“There’s a lot of people doing different things. We’ve got people doing Tarot readings, people working in bakeries, working at Clarks Village.
‘We’re doing normal jobs but we just don’t want to pay rent and get stuck in a place where we are constantly paying somebody else and will never have anything ourselves.
“We keep it as clean as possible and take our rubbish away. I don’t mind if they think we’re scary people because it keeps them away.”
It’s not clear how many occupants of the town’s 300 caravans are choosing an alternative lifestyle but one resident estimated around 80% are there because they can’t afford anything else.
There were signs of the community spirit including a shower in a garden shed that is free to use. It comes as many of the local churches and community groups no longer allowed the growing number of caravan-dwellers into their facilities.
Another resident, Leighton, 51, said: “I would be homeless if not here. Before this I was homeless living for years in a tent so this is a step up from that.
“Like any community groups we have some polar extremes at both ends of the spectrum but we are a community that looks after ourselves because we don’t get much help from anyone else.”
Locals want to see the caravans gone[/caption]
The town’s Zig Zag building has become a Mecca for caravanners[/caption]
Quentin Grugeon, 50, has lived in a caravan in Glastonbury with his dog Bobby, three, since 2020[/caption]